I sometimes find myself confused by how many weird concepts and phrases get used commonly on this site, especially ones that are either internet-specific or scholarly in origin, so I thought just for fun I'd try to draft up a cheat-sheet of some of those terms I've seen used here a lot and let other people help with what I've missed. I figured this may be good as a refresher or a way to learn new ones. Here we go!
Bechdel-Wallace Test (commonly called the Bechdel Test): a frequently-used "lowest bar" for representation of women in a work of fiction, where a passing work must include two woman characters that have a conversation that isn't about a man. Developed as a joke by Liz Wallace and Alison Bechdel as a criticism for the lack of lesbian representation in cinema
Bidoof's Law: states that the kinds of guys that make insane posts about moral degeneracy on social media are often "openly and shamelessly addicted to hentai". Named for infamous tumblr user 'bidoof', who hopefully won't find this post
Chekhov's Gun: literary trope that suggests that one should not draw attention to specific details unless those details will be important to the story; the original example was that a play featuring a gun on a mantle in the first act must have that gun fired by the final act. Named for Anton Chekhov, who is not the guy from Star Trek
dril: infamous Twitter user who has irrevocably helped shape internet vernacular; it's commonly said that "there's always a dril tweet" for any given situation. Real name is [REDACTED]
Enshittification: economic pattern where companies (particularly ones in the tech sector) provide an excellent service at a loss in order to gather a userbase, then gradually worsen their product to attempt to gain a profit, all while hoping the userbase will continue using the service out of familiarity; inevitably, this results in the service's abandonment and death. Coined by Cory Doctorow
Godwin's Law: joke theorem that suggests that the longer an internet argument goes on, the more likely someone will mention the Nazis. Internet tradition typically follows the belief that, should an heated debate result in someone comparing the other party to a Nazi, and the debate otherwise has absolutely nothing to do with Nazis/fascism, that person has lost the debate entirely. Coined by Mike Godwin
Hanlon's Razor: a variation on Occam's Razor (see below) that suggests that one should assume stupidity rather than malice as a driving force behind someone's actions. Named for Robert J. Hanlon, who was probably kidding
Milkshake duck: phrase used to indicate a person who achieved brief popularity on the internet only to turn out to hold bigoted opinions of some kind. Coined by Twitter user "pixelatedboat"
Murphy's Law: suggests that anything that can go wrong, will go wrong. Coined by Nathan A. Murphy Jr while working on a rocket sled project
Occam's Razor: the simplest solution to a problem is often the correct one. Named for William of Ockham
Pavlov's Bell: also called Pavlov's Dog, this is a reference to a classic experiment that involves linking rewards with an unrelated external stimuli, as a form of mental conditioning. Developed by Ivan Pavlov
Poe's Law: suggests that internet satire without clear intent is indistinguishable from sincere belief to an outside observer. Named for Nathan Poe
Prisoner's Dilemma: philosophical conundrum where two individuals that cannot communicate must choose to either betray one another or stay loyal: both staying loyal ensured minimal punishment, one betraying the other results in the traitor going unpunished and the loyalist receiving maximum punishment, and both betraying results in both receiving maximum punishment
Problematic fave: phrase originating on Tumblr that typically indicates a person who remains popular despite their unpleasant behavior
Rule 34: old internet saying that, if something exists, somebody somewhere has drawn pornographic content of it
Rule 63: old internet saying that, if a character exists, somebody has drawn a gender-bent version of them
Schrödinger's Cat: a reference to a thought experiment in quantum physics involving uncertainty of a situation that cannot be resolved without direct observation. Developed by Anton Schrödinger
Skitt's Law: an internet-specific variation of Muphry's Law (not a typo), which states that any post attempting to correct the grammar or spelling of a previous post will invariably include a grammatical or spelling mistake itself. Named for Usenet user "Skitt"
Trolley Problem: philosophical conundrum involving a binary choice between doing nothing and allowing multiple people to die, or to actively choose to allow a single different person to die
Wheaton's Law: a revisal of the classical Golden Rule for the internet age, which simply states "don't be a dick". Popularized by Wil Wheaton (yeah, he's pretty cool)
Petit Gervais is actually the most relatable chapter of Les Mis because sometimes you really are having the most insane time, like the most confused you’ve ever been, and then there’s just some kid there.
If my mutuals can’t rb this then we can’t be mutuals
The people who were introduced to Les Misérables through the musicals and just started reading the novel for the first time be like:
"God, why is there so much lore about The Bishop?"
"Oh, so Fantine was actually blonde after all"
"Why do all of Fantine's friends seem to be complete jerks?"
"I HATE YOU, FÉLIX THOLOMYÈS"
"Geez, so Cosette spent five years with the Thénardiers. And the last time Fantine saw her she was just two-years-old"
"What do you mean Éponine has a younger sister? And was Gavroche her brother this whole time?"
"WHY IS THERE SO MUCH THINGS ABOUT WATERLOO?"
"WAIT, NOW THERE ARE FIVE THÉNARDIERS KIDS? AND THEY "RENTED" TWO OF THEM?"
feminine afab non binary people and masculine amab non binary people are still non binary, and thus, trans. it's not okay to excuse slipping up using an afab non binary person's pronouns just because they "look cis" to you. they are not cis. they are desperately trying to get you to understand that gender is not as black and white as it seems. they are existing in a real niche of real people that struggle to be seen as who they are and contributing to that helps no one.
i see you, fem afab enbies and masc amab enbies. you are still non binary. you are still trans. you still have a right to what pronouns and identity you use. you have a right to get upset when they call you a girl or a boy when you're not. people do not have the right to misgender you just because they don't understand the niche you fall into in life. you are justified in being upset when someone misgenders you because they refuse to see that gender is a broader spectrum than we give it credit for.
you are trans. you are non binary. the right people will see you for who you really are. don't give up telling people who you really are. stand your ground if you must. you are loved and seen for who you are even if it doesn't seem like it right now. don't give up.
Hey so… fuck you jkr
Fuck you for making everyone in your book cis, straight, white, able bodied, English speaking and from England (and if they weren’t they were some kind of stereotype)
This is my personal middle finger to you.
Remus, welsh, trans ftm, gay, disabled, uses a cane, would definitely side with Luigi, definitely only married Tonks cause they both needed someone to support them, fuck you
Sirius, French, definitely got some gender fuckery going on, bi, beats the shit out of nazis/homophobes/transphobes, love of my life, fuck you
Peter, Australian, he doesn’t fucking know or care, he just likes people (sometimes), definitely joins Sirius in his violent conquests, fuck you
James, south Asian, pan, poly, bro just loves fucking everyone, he is incapable of hate (most of the time), would literally only hate you and Voldemort, fuck you
Lily, Scottish, bi, poly, angry as fuck, will whip ur ass for talking badly about any of her friends, she would eviscerate you online, twitter is her playground and she will make you her bitch, fuck you
Marlene, Aussie, lesbian, defo some gender fuckery too, one day she’s all girly pop, next she’s in knee length cargos, crew socks, a wifebeater and uggs, about to whack you over the head with her surfboard, fuck you
Mary, Swahili, bi, trans mtf, my goddess, is just genuinely, kinder, funnier and a better writer than you, omg I just decided Mary keeps these like rlly long diaries just full of stories she’s written, hol up while I write that down, fuck you
Pandora, god knows, she’s just turned up one day, pan, trans mtf (oh I’m not even done yet), speaks in tongues fluently, would defo shit talk you to Sybil, fuck you
Sybil, Czech, bi, ace, trans (she/they) (my knowledge only extends so far on the terms front) would calmly and incredibly gorely tell you how you are going to die, and then watch Barty carry it out, smiling, fuck you
Dorcas, where do we headcanon Dorcas is from? I think she grew up in London but that might just be because I need a token “grew up here” character, would beat you, don’t fight me, fight her, fuck you
Regulus, French, bi, poly, trans ftm, he is babygirl (this is a non gendered term to me) yeah sure he’s fucked up and makes mistakes and shit, he’s remorseful, he makes up for it, but still, he’s babygirl, because if he saw you, Hed spit on your shoes and tell you to turn to love, fuck you
Evan, German, he swears Dora just showed up one day, gay, bored, loml, I cried over him two days ago, he would also beat you up, or maybe just watch Barty do it, fuck you
Barty, English (wow look at that), trans ftm, gay, fucking crazy, I love him, would troll you on twitter, would call you John Rowling and ask how much you like it BITCHHH, fuck you
Is that everyone? It doesn’t feel like everyone. I am missing someone.
OHHHH LOVES OF MY LIFE WAIT
Bellatrix, French, lesbian, crazy bitch, I love her, defo dates Rita, would be a total misandrist except for when guys are useful to her, clung only Molly cause he reminded her of the people she loved (Cissy, Rita, Andy) and would hate you :), loves Peggy by ceechyna, fuck you
Narcissa, french, lesbian, swordfights, reads Sappho, is the fucking best, Queen of lavender marriages, would give you a mildly disgusted look and walk away, we are rather displeased with you
Andromeda, French, straight (whattt???), defo tops tho, don’t know much about her but I’d like to, give me fic recommendations, she seems fucking badass, she would kill you for her little gender fluid baby, fuck you
Rita, English, lesbian (it’s getting funny at this point), trans mtf (I’m shitting myself laughing with all my headcanons written out like this), dyslexic, fight me, that quick quotes quill was there for one reason and one reason only, so she could diss you with the spelling immaculate, fuck you
Alice, German, bi, genuinely a kind person, would get incredibly angry at you if you hurt anyone she likes feeling though, wouldn’t hurt you or anything, just go best red and start crying (tears of anger) while saying mean things about you, then cissy would come over, and then she’d punch you, only if cissy said to though, fuck you
Ted, English (Yorkshire, I just know it), cis het, he does bottom though, fight me, seems genuinely kind, we love to see it, just a nice guy, fuck yeah, still fuck you though
Behold them in all their glory, no particular order or reasons. Just vibes
If I forgot anyone, pls tell me, :))) I don’t want to tag this, it’s gonna be everywhere.
I reached 30 tags so quickly,
Damn
of course you have blood all over you. and pronouns
this is fred, the dot.
fred wants to grow into a beautiful tree, but sadly has no branches
reblog to give fred a branch
i will post fred status updates as he grows